Refrigerator



Nov. 8, 1955 Filed Jan. 27, 1950 W. L. MORRISON REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l [77, verLZ'or ICZ [.Mm'T'L'smz Nov. 8, 1955 w. MORRISON 2,722,809

REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 27, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F] (I a 19 I w fly 5 [nvenZ'or Ml d M P1 077/ fiwm United States Patent REFRIGERATOR Willard L. Morrison, Lake Forest, Ill.

Application January 27, 1950, Serial No. 140,909

. Claims. (Cl. 62-116) My invention relates to an improvement in refrigerator and has for one purpose to provide a refrigerator that will prolong the life of fruits and vegetables.

Another purpose is to provide a refrigerator with a high humidity and high vapor pressure.

Another purpose is to reduce the temperature differential between the cold element and the food stored in a refrigerator to the minimum.

Another purpose is to utilize the excess moisture caused by opening and closing the door and the escape of cold dry air from the box replaced by warm moist air from the room, to remove the super heat from the discharge of the compressor, andto maintain a high moisture level in the refrigerator.

Another purpose is to provide a means of expanding the refrigerant in a manifold on the top side of the cold element and sending it through three parallel tubes of equal length down three sides of the refrigerator to give an equalized refrigeration throughout the interior.

Another purpose is to provide a refrigerator with the coldest refrigerant at the top to compensate for the effect of gravity on the warm air Within the refrigerator.

Another purpose is to provide a means of keeping the fruit and vegetables in baskets that slide on a track and which allow the air to circulate through.

Other purposes will appear. from time to time in the course of the specification and claims. I

I illustrate my invention'more or less diagrammatically in the following figures in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the refrigeration system;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the upper manifold;

Figure 3' is an enlarged view of the drip pan with the discharge tubes from the compressor extending through it;

Figure 4 is a front perspective view of the refrigerator with the door open;

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the track and shelf support; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the track on the refrigerator wall.

Like parts will be indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to Figure 1, motor 1 drives compressor 2, the compressed super-heated refrigerant is discharged at an exit 3 to tube 4, extending through refrigerator condensate drip pan 5. The tube 4 extends through condenser fins 6, entering the fin condenser area at 7 near the top and leaving at 8 near the bottom. The condensed refrigerant passes through tube 9 to manifold 10 at the top of the refrigerator. From the manifold 10 the refrigerant is expanded into three sets of equal length tubes 11, 12, and 13. The three tubes together cool the top side of the cold element and then each extends down a side wall of the refrigerator to cool it. The tubes 11, 12, and 13 then extend along the bottom of the box to join a manifold 14 connected by pipe 15 to the low side of compressor 2. The ducts 11, 12, and 13 are arranged so Patented Nov. 8, 1955 that most of the tubing is located near the top of the box and the concentration of the refrigerating effect decreases downwardly from the top in order to compensate for the rise of warm air within. This arrangement of tubing assures equalized refrigeration throughout the interior.

The moisture that condenses within the box drops to the bottom and drains off through a tube 16 which empties into drippan 5. This water aids in removing the super heat from the refrigerant in tube 4 as it leaves its compressor 2, and this heat exchange causes the evaporation of the water. Thus I eliminate the necessity of emptying the drip pan frequently.

Figure 2 is an enlarged portion of the expansion manifold 10 at the top of the refrigerator showing how the refrigerant is divided equally into three lines of tubing 11, 12, and 13.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the drip pan 5 with the discharge tubing 4 extending through it.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 illustrate an improved manner of storing the food. By sliding the metal baskets 17 on a perforated track 18 the food is easily accessible and because of the perforations in the track 18 and the flanges of the baskets 19, the circulation of air in the refrigerator is not impeded.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

In the storing and preservation of food, the aging force that must be overcome is dehydration. Dehydration is caused by a great difference in temperature between the cold element and the ultimate temperature of the food stored. This differential can be reducedby maintaining the cold surface at or about 32 F. and by so disposin the refrigeration coils so that they practically completely surround the space to be refrigerated. Thus they will very quickly bring the enclosed space to almost the same temperature as the refrigeration coils. By arranging the tubing so that more of it is near thetop of the refrigerator, I overcome the effect of gravity which drives the warmer air to the top within the refrigerator. This effects an equalization of temperature within the refrigerator which further counteracts dehydration. When any one spot in a refrigerator is colder than another, it draws the warmer air to it and if that warmer air comes from the fruits or vegetables it carries the moisture of the fruits or vegetables with it.

To further increase the effectiveness of my invention, I maintain high humidity in the refrigerator. This is achieved because the moist warm air that enters the refrigerator with the food or when the doors are opened is rapidly condensed by the great expanse of cold element. Some of the moisture remains on the food which is a healthy condition because as long as there is moisture on the food little, if any moisture is being drawn out of the food. The rest of the moisture drains into the drip pan where it is evaporated by the compressor discharge coils outside of the box.

By maintaining a temperature which is below the freezing point of water, but above the freezing point of fruit or vegetables, I am able to keep fruit and vegetables in a dormant stage because I have found that at that temperature the further maturing of fruit and vegetables is suspended. Experience shows that even such fruits as pears can be kept for long periods of time in this dormant stage and can be ripened in a day or two when removed from the refrigerator.

In effect, the arrangement whereby the top, the bottom and three sides of the box are all kept cool by the evaporating coils results in a very widely extended cooling area almost entirely surrounding the storage chamber. Under these circumstances, the temperature of any particular part of the cooling area can be little, if any, below the desired temperature of the food stored in the ice chamber. Thus, the .vapor pressure tending to cause movement .ofmoisture from the food .to the cold surfaces is kept at a minimum. Moreover, since the temperature of the cold surfaces is high, there is little, if -any, frosting or freezing of water on the cold surfaces. The moisture in the airiscondensed and runs off the surfaces down intothe pan' below and outside of the storage chamber, which moisture is again evaporated by the warm pipes ieading from the compressor to the condenser coils so that there is no accumulation of water in this driptray.

The arrangement whereby'the coils of the evaporating rtubes becomemore widely spaced from the top toward thebottom ofthe boxis important. The reason for this is that cold-air tends to fall and if the temperature or the heat absorbingeifect was the same-from top to bottom of the cold box walls, we would have a situation where -the=bottom was colder than the top. What We want is a situation where the temperature is as nearly possible uniform from top to bottom.

When the door is opened, all the cold air with some of its-moisture extracted, the cold surfacesbei-ng much colder than the air in the room, falls-out of the box and is replaced bywarm air from the room having, of course, much higher vapor content. Then, when the box is closed, thisair is cooled, and tends to give up its moisture by precipitation. In a 'sense, it actually rains in the box. Water is deposited onthewalls and on the contents of the box and thus the food is kept in a moist, cold condition. Every time the door is opened and closed, this happenssothat every time the door is opened and-closed, more moisture is-brought into the chamber. This moisture graduallymay evaporate. It gradually may travel from 'thefood to the Walls of the box, but-to do this it 'must first, after it-has been deposited on thefoochbe vaporized, then'tra-vel to the walls of the box, then be condensed and *then discharged.

"The slow, delayed process which, 'under normal circumstances' is :enough, is "completed beforethe box door .is opened again to admit more warm moisture-laden air-to again be deposited by condensation on the cold contents of the box.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, a vertically elongated foodstorage chamber having top, bottom andside walls, a vertically disposed opening into said chamber extending substantially from top to bottomthereof, a removable closure for said opening, a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, conduits joining them, a manifold associated with the top and the bottom walls of the chamber, 3. single suction connection from the manifold associated with the bottom wall leading to the compressor, a single discharge connection leading from the condenser with the manifold associated with the top of the chamber, the evaporator comprising aplurality of tubes in parallel, extending between the two manifolds.

2. In a refrigerator, a vertically elongated food storage chamber having tog-bottom and .side walls, a vertically disposed opening intosaid chamber extending substantially from top to bottom thereof, a removable closure for said opening, a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, conduits joining them, a manifold associated with the top and the bottom walls of the chamber, a single suction connection-from .the manifold associated with .thepbottom Wall leading to the compressor, a single discharge conneetionleading from thelcondenser with the manifold associated with the top .of the chamber, the evaporator comprising .,a ,plurality .of tubes in parallel, extending between. theatwo manifolds, all of .said tubes closely,spacedassociatedwith. the'top .of the chamber and all of said tubes more widely spacedextending .downwardlyMong-thewallofthe.chamber, the tubes being .coi-led, the spacing-between the coils increasing from ;thetop.of .-;each wall downwardly towardthe bottom of :the chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent -UN'ITED STATES PATENTS 1,718,312 'Shipley June 25, 1929 1,834,949 [Hull Dec. 8, 1931 2,090,413 Gould Aug. 17, 1937 2,091,159 "Persons Aug. 24, 1937 2,112,599 "Heitman Mar. 29, 1938 2,150,699 Philipp Mar. 14, 1939 2,167,442 Alsing July 25, 1939 2,200,302 Ruff May 14, 1940 2,250,612 Tanner July 29, 1941 2,296,997 Knoy Sept. 29, 1942 2,323,354 Rees July 6, 1943 2,485,115 .Saunders Oct. 18, 1949 

